README

Express React Helper

Easily add react to your express or sails app

Express React Helper sets up React Helper and adds some convenience methods to make it even easier to add react to your app and bypass all of the setup.

How to use it

npm install -g react-helper

npm install express-react-helper --save

react-helper init -w

Wherever your middleware is setup

app.use(expressReactHelper.setup());

In the Controller

req.renderComponent will make the rendered component accessible in the view by the component's name

  function(req, res) {
    req.renderComponent('SignUp')
    res.render('view-to-render')
  }

In the View: example using handlebars templating engine

   <h1>This view has react in it</h1>
   {{{SignUp}}}

Javascript entry point

This is compiled by webpack and what tells the browser to render the react component you've specified in your controller/view. Read more about setting up webpack here

 const reactHelper = require('reactHelper');
 const SomeComponent = require('./path/to/a/component');
   
 reactHelper.register({SignUp});

Features

Express React Helper has a few added features, but it can also do anything else React Helper can do.
- You can check out React Helper's feature list here
Context - Add data to context to be available in every react component rendered with ReactHelper
- This can be a helpful way to pass server side configs to your react components, login state, or any other props multiple components will need that you don't feel like added to every controllers renderComponent.
You can add to context like this:

Wherever your middleware is setup
```
    app.use(expressReactHelper.addToReactContext({baseUrl: 'www.myapp.com'}))
```
Or by adding to req.reactHelperContext:

Anywhere you have access to req
```
  req.reactHelperContext.userName = req.user.userName;
```

Example

Check out an example app generated with the react-helper cli using the library - https://github.com/tswayne/react-helper-example.

You can see how express-react-helper is setup here and usage in a controller here.

Contributing

Feel free to open issues or pull requests!

Usage no npm install needed!